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Plano Minuteman · Posted: Thu Dec 03, 2009 11:49 am Post subject:

Good article on what to expect from freshmen, production-wise:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/luke_winn/12/01/freshman.expectations/index.html

Dunno what our freshmen's offensive and defensive efficiencies are, but
I imagine they're doing okay compared to the rest of the team:

Just a quick glance at the stats shows:

Riley is 3rd in scoring, 7th in minutes
Vinson is 4th in scoring, 4th in minutes
Sa. Carter is 5th in scoring, 6th in minutes
Farrell is 7th in scoring, 10th in minutes

xlgman · Senior Joined: 04 Feb 2004 Posts: 1291

From www.statsheet.com :

Riley - 26% possessions, 39% minutes, 107% efficiency
Sampson - 19%, 43%, 90%
Vinson - 17%, 57%, 120%
Farrell - 21%, 28%, 102%

uz2b-len · Posted: Fri Dec 04, 2009 1:42 pm Post subject:

I don't know what these numbers mean.

In another vein, I've been thinking about this fact: only four players on the team played college hoops last season. What can we really expect in this situation? It will be a testament to good coaching if the team is at all competitive in the conference schedule. In addition to lacking experience, it is also a factor in conditioning. I don't think you can get guys in top shape staring from scratch in the summer, or whenever the players were available. Not if all they were doing was playing AAU ball or maybe not playing at allo (Hill, Lang). And how much time is there to devote to conditioning when there are so many skills and systems to be taught? I just think there's no basis to be dissatisfied with Kellog this year, given what he's working with.
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lane one · Junior Joined: 17 Aug 2003 Posts: 396

I wanted to give this topic a bump to point out that the team has made some nice progress over the past month.

After 2 games, there was mention of the team winning only 3-4 games prior to the conference games starting. Early in December, Roadtrip suggested 14-16 wins for the season, but implied it might take unbridled optimism or pharmaceudical assistance to feel that way. At this point, I think its pretty reasonable to think that the team can get 14 wins this year.

The biggest complaint early in the season was a complete lack of defense. UMass has been solid on this front for the past few games, and has outrebounded opponents a few games in a row. I don't believe this has happened for a long time.

Right now, a big problem is the shooting, but with Ricky Harris having lingering injury troubles, and Riley being out, thats not all that surprising. We are still lacking a strong point guard, but we knew this would be the case from the start.

Past years teams have suffered complete and utter let downs following big wins. This team didn't do that after the Memphis win. While it would have been nice to get wins against bc and Davidson, it looked like the team played pretty hard in both of those games.

The A10 will be stronger than it has in the past few years, but I think our young team - with its young coach - will be competitive. They are moving in the right direction, and I think DK is still in a nice spot to talk to recruits about having a chance to earn playing time soon while being part of program on the rise.

78 · Hall of Fame Joined: 02 Apr 2003 Posts: 2358

There has been some improvement. However, the team did lose last night on the road to a pretty mediocre Davidson team. I said 8-10 (D1) wins total for the season and will stick with that. Although I did raise league exepectations to 5-6 wins, so if they hit six wins in league, which will be difficult, that would give them 11 D1 wins. I still see no one on this team who can play point guard and run the offense and that to me is one of the biggest issues this team faces.

Right now the team is 5-7 against D1 competition. They have 17 games left. If they win 10 total, that will mean they lose 19. A 10-19 record is about what I expect. And, we go into next year without a point guard and losing the best scorer on the team.

As for the rest of this year, while Riley can shoot he also has shown a tendency to take a lot of bad shots, so I am not so sure he is the answer to the shooting woes. A healthy Ricky will help the offense. The defense and rebounding have improved, but the offense has gone south. Hopefully both parts of the game can meet in the middle by the end of the year.
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uz2b-len · Posted: Thu Dec 31, 2009 3:50 pm Post subject:

I'm very optimistic, even though I haven't gotten over last night's loss yet. I keep thinking that if Gurley had made that baby shot, Ricky would have taken over the OT bringing us the win. Just a fantasy.

However, I'm optimistic because I believe the offense will come together as Ricky and Freddy return to health. Don't forget, they were our first and third leading scorers. That's a lot to have to replace. Clearly we can beat Fordham, and the kind of effort we've been consistently making for the past four games can also be enough to beat LaSalle at (sort of) home. Like others, I see steady improvement. Like others, I think the substitutions could be DK's biggest weakness.
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vanmeter · Senior Joined: 02 Apr 2003 Posts: 893

Absolutely we need to get a point guard for next year. We are very, veryhandicapped this year at that position and without an improvement in that area we will strugglw next year as well.

uz2b-len · Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2010 2:09 pm Post subject:

I think the LaSalle game on Jan 10 will give us a good sense of how many we might be able to win in the a10. If we lose to LaSalle at home, I think the answer will be--not many.
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xlgman · Senior Joined: 04 Feb 2004 Posts: 1291

I'm actually pretty encouraged by our recent play, despite the losses to BC and Davidson. Both of those games were very winnable if we could have shot the ball halfway decently (I thought the Seton Hall game was winnable as well). As others have said, Riley could make a big difference, as well as a healthier Ricky. Maybe a few weeks observing has allowed Riley to get a better understanding of the offense and his shot selection will improve. We all know he can flat out score. Correia seems more confident and Farrell seems to be gaining more and more trust from DK with his recent start. Sean and City are exceeding most expectations and getting better and better. All in all, I think the offensive woes will not last.

The improvement on defense and rebounding is significant. When looking at the A10 teams, we still stand near the bottom in some defensive categories but over the last 6 or 7 games, we've played relatively good consistent defense and rebounded very well. I do not know if other A10 teams are improving at the same rate as we are but it seems safe to say that we are significantly closing the gap in those key areas.

I could easily see us pulling out some surprising A10 wins and dropping some more clunkers. It's too early to tell for sure but if our offense can return to early season form, we might be able to finish in the middle of the pack of a strong A10. If we can exceed our early season offensive numbers and keep up the defense and rebounding of late, we might even be considered pretty good.

I like that this team and coach seem to be improving in a lot of facets and the possibility remains that we'll see some more pretty good basketball, especially from the youngsters.

Floyd · Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2010 9:59 am Post subject:

As long as there is improvement, I'm good. I can wait a little longer for the team to come together and with the young guys we have, we have time. Just want to see them keep working and give the effort to reach their potential. Really does look like we have some good kids in the program
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uz2b-len · Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 4:08 pm Post subject:

A friend of mine who played D1 hoops used to say, "You're never as good as you look when you're winning and you're never as bad as you look when you're losing."
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kdogg8173 · Senior Joined: 10 Apr 2003 Posts: 1354

We have much better talent than the record would tell you and yes we have some weak spots at the 1 and 5, but overall it's there. The glaring observation in my mind is just how out of sync they always seem to be. You can count on one hand how many open shots they get a game as a team. Ricky can shoot, Riley can shoot, and I think I can label Gurley as an average shooter. Last yr was ok for him, the first half of this yr was ok, the last 10 games or so have been brutal but I'm thinking its just (hopefully) a major cold streak.

My patience has run thin because I don't see guys, not even a little, put in positions to benefit their talents. The sets, gameplan, defense, etc is just very ugly.

carrierustothepromiseland · Senior Joined: 25 Oct 2004 Posts: 907

This team has talent...bottom line. Something is wrong, and they don't seem to be getting any better. Recruiting is a major part of college athletics, but coaching is just as important, just ask Charlie Weiss. Charlie recruited his ass off at Notre Dame, but he couldn't coach'em up. Something is very wrong here. I don't know how to solve the problem, but I hope we don't lose any of these kids. Freddie Riley and Terrell Vinson are the two most legit players we have had in one recruiting class in over a decade. Javorn Farrell and Sampson Carter can develop into serious A10 players. We can't afford to lose these kids. If any of them transfer, especially Vinson or Riley, then you can stick a fork in this program.

Swampy · Senior Joined: 02 Apr 2003 Posts: 1267

TV has been starting since day one. The others have been getting plenty of time as freshmen. Next year at this time they'll all be either starting or getting MAJOR minutes. I know players want to win but they also want to PLAY. The four guys you mentioned aren't going anywhere but back to the gym to continue to try and get better, IMO.

Floyd · Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2010 11:49 am Post subject:

End of this season is very important. These kids need to get a little taste of success here to finish things out.. Good time to experiment a bit with some different looks, give certain guys some minutes, and let them play. I think they're feeling the pressure, and because they're young, you don't want to crush the confidence for good.

We all are a bit frustrated/disappointed with how this season is shaping up even though we all knew it would be a tough year. It's natural to want your team to do well, and we sometimes get caught up in the frustration of the moment, myself included. But I'm going to take a step back and just watch, and hope that they keep on working.

I'm sure these guys read and hear a lot of the stuff posted here and in the papers, and some of the stuff is pretty personal and vicious. It's not fair to these kids who bust their ass throughout the year and are trying to do what the staff is asking of them, to have to listen to their "fanbase" bash them at every turn. This is not a view from maroon colored glasses either, because this has been probably one of the more unexciting seasons for me personally following UMass basketball in a while. It just hasn't been entertaining basketball and the progress has been tough to see. Everyone has their opinions as to what they think the issues are, and that's fine, but let's not let that get in the way of what we should and need to be to this program right now, and that's supportive. It's easy when things are going great, much tougher when the shit hits the fan.

Sometimes being supportive is just being there to pick them up when they're down, and they're in a down swing right now. So I'll be there in my spacious seat at the Mullins next weekend, and hopefully these kids can see some success
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